Wisdom 8
Imam Ali (A.S.) said:
“When this world smiles upon a people, it lends them the virtues of others; but when it turns away from them, it strips them even of their own virtues.”
Keywords
Turns Toward (أَقْبَلَت): To favor, prosper, or bestow worldly success.
Lends (أَعَارَتْهُمْ): To attribute, assign, or temporarily grant.
Turns Away (أَدْبَرَت): To depart, decline, or withdraw.
Strips Away (سَلَبَتْهُمْ): To take away, deprive, or remove.
Summary of Wisdom 8
In this profound wisdom, Imam Ali (A.S.) describes how people’s judgments often change according to worldly success or failure. Many individuals evaluate others through a materialistic lens. When someone becomes wealthy, powerful, or socially successful, people exaggerate that person’s virtues and even attribute qualities to them that actually belong to others. Conversely, when worldly fortune leaves someone, people may fail to recognize—even deny—their genuine virtues.
Commentary
1. Worldly Success Distorts People’s Judgment
“Lending the virtues of others” means attributing qualities to someone that they do not truly possess simply because they enjoy wealth, influence, or prestige.
Sometimes people mistake extravagance for generosity, arrogance for courage, ignorance for knowledge, or shamelessness for confidence and dignity.
Worldly success often blinds people to reality and causes them to praise individuals far beyond what they deserve.
2. Worldly Failure Hides Genuine Virtues
When worldly fortune departs from someone, people often begin to overlook or even deny that person’s real qualities.
A cheerful personality may be dismissed as foolishness.
Humility may be interpreted as weakness.
Asceticism may be accused of being hypocrisy.
Instead of judging fairly, people allow changing circumstances to shape their opinions.
Practical Lessons
- When evaluating people, we should judge them according to truth, character, and genuine virtues—not according to wealth, social status, or temporary worldly circumstances.
- We should avoid making quick judgments based solely on outward appearances or changing conditions.
- A person’s financial success or failure is not necessarily an indication of their true worth.
- One of the defining characteristics of worldly life is that it constantly changes. Prosperity and hardship alternate. Therefore, believers should never become deceived by worldly success nor lose hope during times of difficulty.
Reflection
It is narrated that Harun al-Rashid greatly admired Ja’far ibn Yahya al-Barmaki. He praised him as the most eloquent, the bravest, the finest writer, the wisest administrator, the most handsome, and the most virtuous of people—even though some of these descriptions were clearly exaggerated.
Harun elevated him to such a position that no one dared to challenge his opinions.
However, when Harun later turned against him, he denied even Ja’far’s genuine qualities, such as his intelligence and generosity.
This historical example demonstrates how worldly favor and disfavor can distort people’s perception of reality.
Self-Assessment
- What does Imam Ali (A.S.) mean by “the world lends people the virtues of others”?
- According to this wisdom, what should be the true standard for evaluating a person’s character?
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- Wisdom 13 – Nahj al-Balagha, Imam Ali (A.S.)
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